Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla
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When Nokubonga Ntzimela lost her patient’€™s card for the local clinic, she was scared to go back, fearing that the nursing sisters would shout at her.Ntzimela’€™s experience is perhaps unusual from other 16-year-olds in that she visited the clinic at least once. Surveys show that most adolescents avoid public clinics because they are concerned about being chastised, embarrassed or rudely treated by clinic staff.
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Indigo storm clouds are mounting on the horizon as we go into the Mthembu family home in Manguzi. We are just a few kilometers from the Mozambique border and the sandy soil suggests we’€™re also not too far from the coast.
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The red ribbon pinned to his windbreaker is the first thing you notice. Then the wide smile, the huge, deep-sunken eyes and his incredibly frail body. Nkosi Johnson (11), touted for many years by the media as one of the longest HIV survivor in the country, is ill.
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Bongani Khumalo responds well to causes. From the South African Council of Churches, the Red Cross, the South African National Men’s Forum which he founded, “to inculcate responsible behaviour among men”, to Deputy Chief Executive at Eskom where he was responsible for restructuring and transformation, Bongani Khumalo is a committed to causes.
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A new study in the latest American Journal of Epidemiology has confirmed what experts have long suspected – that HIV infection rates based on the national antenatal surveys could well be an underestimate.
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President Thabo Mbeki has never said that HIV does not cause AIDS, but he is prepared to consult all players and question all theories including “the unwavering belief that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS — in his quest to get to grips with the disease.So said presidential spokesperson Parks Mankahlana this week in response to the controversy caused by Mbeki’s contact with a group of scientists who deny HIV causes or plays any role in AIDS.
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The difference between diseases children can easily catch from one another, like flu, and those they can’€™t, like HIV/AIDS is the subject of a new play, “Inside Out”, produced by the Arepp Educational Trust.
Fewer than half the state hospitals and clinics chosen to provide termination of pregnancy procedures are offering the service to pregnant women. This is according to the South African Health Review 1999 released yesterday (wed feb.9) by the Health Systems Trust.
At the level of words and policies South Africa’€™s health system is broadly on track towards a more effective and equitable service, but implementation and delivery still have a long way to go.
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The growing problem of drug dependency and alcoholism among youth worldwide is well documented. At the 10th World Congress of the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency held recently in Cape Town, several presentations focused on how to protect teenagers from dangerous choices. A crucial element it seems, is in meaningful relationships between adults and children.
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Flu experts hold different views as to which strain of influenza is going to hit South Africans hardest this winter, but they all agree on one thing: a flu jab is a must. An anti-flu vaccine administered in March will help boost your ability to resist the virus or to recover quicker from the flu should it strike.
Almost half the maternal deaths in South Africa during 1998 were preventable. This is according to the Health Department’s Confidential Enquiry into maternal deaths in South Africa. The report identifies numerous shortcomings in the health care system, many of which concern failures in the referral and transport systems between health institutions. The Department of Health has accepted the recommendations of the report and will start implementing them.